Dina Trucks S.A.

[kscarbel]

With a history spanning over six decades, Dina is Mexico's oldest domestic commercial vehicle manufacturer.

Diesel National, S.A. (Dina) was founded in 1951 to produce and sell automobiles, trucks and trailers. The Mexican government was the majority shareholder and Italian private interests held a minority.

Dina also planned to sell diesel engines for industrial and agricultural use. A factory was built in central Mexico, in the state of Hidalgo.

[kscarbel]

Dina signed an agreement with Fiat in 1952 to assemble and sell heavy trucks in Mexico. From 1955 to 1960, Dina produced Fiat 682-N, 682-T, and 682-RN trucks. Fiat truck production ended in 1960 due to high production costs.

[kscarbel]

Dina assembled heavy trucks in the early 1960's and 1970's under the Dina brand from components purchased from Diamond Reo (previously "Diamond T").

[kscarbel]

In 1957, Dina began assembling and selling Fiat 500, 1100 and 1400 cars.

In 1962, Dina signed a contract with Renault to provide parts and car assembly in Mexico. The agreement ended in 1971.

Dina began assembling medium and heavy trucks with International cabs and Cummins engines in 1963.

The Dina 500 and 600 Series appear based on the Loadstar.

[kscarbel]

The short-nose Dina 800 Series was based on the Fleetstar.

[kscarbel]

The long-nose Dina 800 Series was based on the 4300 Series (F4370).

[kscarbel]

In 1964, Flxible Model 311 buses went into production at Dina.

Dina began producing Cummins NT and NH diesel engines in 1968.

Dina produced Flxible Flxliner inter-city buses under license under the "Olimpico" name 1968 until 1988.

[kscarbel]

Dina purchased 60 percent of Perkins Diesel S.A. in 1973, a diesel engine manufacturer formerly owned by Chrysler's Mexican subsidiary.

In 1976, Dina began assembling Renault automobiles and held 10% market share in Mexico.

In 1978, Dina and Renault built a 60/40 joint venture factory in Mexico. Dina sold their 60% stake to Renault in 1983.

Dina built a new plant in 1980 for the production of General Motors 1000 series (1/2-ton) and 3000 series (3-ton) light trucks.

At this time, Dina was providing the Mexican market with 20% of its medium trucks and 18% of its heavy trucks, a total of 15,000 units annually.

[kscarbel]

In 1981, Dina signed a 10-year technical cooperation contract with Navistar to manufacture International brand trucks using parts and components produced in the US. The result was the introduction of the S-Series, 7400, 7800 and 9400.

[kscarbel]

Dina's model D12160 medium COE used an Iveco cab, Cummins B-Series engine and ZF Ecolite S5-42 transmission.

[kscarbel]

The sharp fall in world oil prices in 1981-82 led to a financial crisis in Mexico. In 1982, Dina production fell from 15,400 to 10,500 units. Bus production fell 1,800 to 700 units. City bus production fell from 4,000 to 2,000.

By 1983, Dina was operating at 25% capacity and lost US$150 million. But Dina was helped by a 1983 government decree requiring trucks over 11-tons to be diesel-powered and made only by companies with majority Mexican ownership. By 1987, Dina had 75% of the Mexican market for heavy trucks, and 25% of the trailer market.

1987 - Navistar purchased a 5% stake in Dina for US$1.5 million. Dina was producing Navistar's new S-series trucks.

1988 - Chrysler's Mexican subsidiary purchased a 8% stake of Dina for US$2.4 million. Dina also supplied plastic bumpers to Ford.

After losing US$25 million in 1988, Dina was sold in 1989 for US$84 million in cash plus the assumption of US$148 million in debt to Mr. Raymundo Gomez Flores.

Mr. Flores invested US$30 million of his own money and received a 15-year US$150 million loan from Union Bank of Switzerland that he paid off in 3 years. Chrysler and Navistar retained their shares in Dina. The Mexican government also kept a 5.7% stake in Dina.

In return for flexible worker rules, Dina's new management promised the union there would be no layoffs, established bonuses based on productivity gains, and placed union floor managers and quality-control personnel in management positions. Dina became more of an assembler and less of a manufacturer by purchasing more components abroad.

Navistar raised its stake in 1991 from 5% to 17.5%. Navistar signed a supply agreement to sell Dina 7.6-liter DT466 diesel engines and truck cabs. The majority of the other components for Dina medium and heavy trucks production were supplied in Mexico by Dina.

During the 1990s, Dina began exporting to Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Argentina.

1991 - Dina had a public offering of shares on the Mexican and New York stock markets and raised US$342 million. Dina posted sales of US$900 million. Dina raised bus production to 2,000 units annually.

1992 - Dina began building Brazilian Marcopolo S.A.'s "Paradiso" and "Viaggio" bus bodies under license in 1992 mounted on bus chassis made from U.S. parts. Dina's bus building subsidiary became the largest in North America.

Dina posted a net profit of US$91 million.

1993 Dina held a 46% market share of the Mexican intercity bus market and 40% of the Mexican truck market. Dina began exporting "Paradiso" and "Viaggio" buses to Central and South America.

In 1994, Dina purchased Motor Coaches Industries (MCI), the largest manufacturer of intercity bus coaches in the U.S., for US$311.6 million in stock and debt securities. This purchase made Dina the largest bus manufacturer in North America, with annual revenues of US$1.4 billion.

Unfortunately, just after Dina purchased MCI, Mexico's economy began having problems. The Mexican Peso was devalued and bus sales fell. Mexico's highway-construction program was cancelled in late 1994 due to the Mexican economic recession and NAFTA, Dina's net sales fell to US$687 million in 1995. Bus sales fell from 2,040 to 169 units, and truck sales from 30,644 to 5,219 units. The profitable MCI business in the U.S. soon began to overshadow Dina's operations in Mexico and accounted for 90% of Dina's operating profit. Dina began taking on debt and eventually owed US$700 million.

NAFTA, however, also had positive aspects for Dina, because it allowed Dina to buy U.S. components at lower cost. In addition, Dina could more easily enter the U.S. and Canadian markets through its alliance with Navistar and its MCI acquisition, which became Motor Coach Industries International (MCII) Holdings (USA) Inc. in 1996 and absorbed Dina Autobuses, S.A. de C.V. in 1997.

Under Dina, MCI introduced the E4500 and G4500 coaches in 1997.

[kscarbel]

In 1997, Dina introduced its self-designed F11, F12 and F14 buses, replacing Brazilian Marcopolo brand bodies.

Dina's new subsidiary, Dina International (Dimex), began manufacturing trucks and buses in Argentina for the South American market.

MCI Holdings represented 68% of Dina's net sales in 1998. MCI was operating bus plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Only 23% of Dina's revenues came from Mexico, and 83% of its profits were in dollars. MCI had a 75% market share of bus coaches in the U.S. and Canada. More than half of Dina's trucks were being exported.

Although Dina was profitable in 1996 and 1997, Dina remained in serious financial difficulty. Although sales reached US$1.14 billion in 1998, Dina had a net loss of US$85.14 million because of large interest payments on debt.

Dina cancelled its cooperation with Navistar and introduced its self-designed "HTQ" series of medium and heavy trucks.

Trucks represented 14% of Dina's revenues in 1998, with 2,304 units sold, of which 1,166 were exported. Dina had a 10% share of the Mexican truck market. Dina's truck business was not profitable in 1998.

To reduce company debt, Dina sold 61% of MCI for US$175 million in 1999. MCI had accounted 90% of Dina's operating profits between 1995 and 1998. The sale of MCI reduced Dina's net sales to US$596.97 million. Dina's net income fell to US$50.33 million. Dina's 39% stake in MCII accounted for 30% of its sales and 95% of its net income. Of Dina's 1999 sales, Mexico accounted for 26% and export sales 74%.

[kscarbel]

In 2000, Dina lost US$101.3 million. The year had begun optimistically, because Dina had signed a 10-year contract with U.S. truckmaker "Western Star" to supply medium trucks. However, Daimler's Freightliner division purchased Western Star for $453 million and cancelled the Dina contract.

Mexico's market for commercial trucks for domestic and export customers fell 15% to 49,747 units in 2000. Dina's sales fell 6.6% from 2,286 units in the prior year to 2,135 units.

[kscarbel]

Dina "HTQ" Series Medium and Heavy Trucks

Dina had a contract to supply Western Star with "HTQ" series trucks in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. However, in year 2000 after delivering 700 of the 9000 units under contract, Daimler's Freightliner division purchased Western Star and cancelled the Dina contract.

The cab design of the HTQ series was engineered for both conventional cab and low cab forward configurations. The cab was designed for Dina by Design Works USA (a BMW subsidiary) and Roush Industries of Detroit, Michigan.

Dina "HTQ" 4x2 Specifications (Western Star "Solar" Series Model 3742)

Engine: Caterpillar 3126B, 210 to 300hp

Front Axle: 3,600kg to 8,200kg

Rear Axle: 8,600kg to 10,400kg

Dina "HTQ" 6x4 Specifications (Western Star "Solar" Series Model 3764)

Engine: Caterpillar 3126B, 275 to 300hp

Front Axle: 5,400kg to 9,000kg

Rear Axle: 18,100kg to 20,900kg (Hendrickson HFS 4-spring suspension)

[kscarbel]

In 2001 Dina began downsizing, including the restructuring and sale of certain group companies, and the liquidation of the union. Dina suspended operations to allow financial restructuring and technical upgrading.

After an investment of US$1.15 million, the company began developing a new range of city buses using Dina's HTQ truck chassis with Cummins and Iveco engines.

Dina's new bus factory opened in 2007 with a daily production capacity of 23 units.

Dina now has its own truck financing group with assets of US$1 billion.

The company’s modern Linner, Ridder and Brighter munipal transit and trolley buses are selling well. Dina has also been producing their Hustler” yard tractor for almost a decade.

Striding along again, Dina celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2011 and is considering a re-entry into the medium and heavy truck business.

Dina Camiones, S.A. de C.V.

Corredor Industrial s/n

Cd. Fray Bernardino de Sahagun Hidalgo, Mexico 43990

http://www.dina.com.mx/products.html

[slpwlker]

Those things are a common site in south Tx. Laredo,Hidalgo,Pharr.

[kscarbel]

I'd like to know the story on this mystery tractor. Note the top-mounted windshield wiper arms.

[Green Dash]

Great photo-history on Dina. Thaknks for taking the time to put it together and post it.

The gold Diamond Reo based tractor above appears to have a Western Star hood from that era.

[mackniac]

learned another good part of history here, thank you for the info